World in brief – Five police officers shot dead in Texas protest

Five police officers were shot dead when violence erupted in Dallas, Texas, during protests over the shooting of two black men by police this week.

Dallas Police Chief David Brown said that snipers had fired from elevated positions during the protest and confirmed that 11 officers were shot. Two remain in critical condition. The attack occurred as protests were being held across the US in response to the shooting of Philandro Castile and Alton Sterling this week.

Mr Castile, 32, image left, was shot and killed by police at a traffic stop in the state of Minnesota overnight. According to his fiancee, who streamed the aftermath live, Mr Castile was stopped by police for a broken tail light when he informed them that he had a firearm in the vehicle and that he had a concealed carry permit. Mr Castile, ordered to show his licence, reached for his wallet but was shot several times by the police officer. Mr Castile’s fiancee’s daughter, 4, was in the back seat and witnessed the shooting.

The day before, Mr Sterling, 37 was wrestled to the ground and shot dead by police as he sold CDs on the street. Police responded to a 911 call reporting that Sterling had allegedly threatened a homeless man with a gun. CCTV later showed that Sterling was not holding a gun at the time police approached him. The video shows six shots fired at Sterling who was wrestled to the ground where police removed an object – believed to be his gun – from his pocket. Paramedics could not revive him.

President Obama added to the outcry against the deaths of black Americans at the hands of police, calling the latest incidents symptomatic of “the racial disparities that appear across the system year after year” causing a lack of trust of police among the black community.

UK to have their second female Prime Minister

The contest to replace David Cameron as leader of the Conservative Party has narrowed down to Theresa May, the home secretary and Andrea Leadsom, the junior energy minister. The winning candidate will be the UK’s first female Prime Minister since Margaret Thatcher, a Conservative, who lead the country from 1979 to 1990.

Thursday’s vote by the 330 members of the House of Commons eliminated contender Michael Gove, the justice secretary, after he received only 46 votes, compared to Ms May’s 199 and Ms Leadsom’s 84 votes. Mr Cameron resigned after the UK voted to leave the European Union two weeks ago and the new Prime Minister will be set the complicated task of negotiating Britain’s exit from the EU after 43 years.

Ms May, a favourite to replace Mr Cameron, campaigned for the UK to remain while Ms Leadsom supported the leave side. After the announcement yesterday Ms May spoke outside Parliament, “We need proven leadership to negotiate the best deals for leaving the European Union,” she said.

“This vote shows that the Conservative party can come together and under my leadership it will.”

Germany updates rape laws

The German parliament has made significant changes to the country’s rape laws following the spate of attacks in Cologne on New Year’s Eve. The new legislation is based on the term “no means no” or “nein heißt nein” and allows a victim who verbally refused consent to sexual activity to file a criminal complaint.

The rules on consent will now be much clearer and victims will no longer be required to show that they physically resisted attack before charges for rape and other sexual assaults can be brought. It also makes groping a sex crime. Germany’s minister for women, Manuela Schwesig, says, “The change in the law will help increase the number of victims who choose to press charges, lower the number of criminal prosecutions that are shelved and ensure sexual assaults are properly punished.”

Refugee beat to death in Italy

A Nigerian asylum-seeker who fled to Italy last year has been murdered in an alleged racist attack. Emmanuel Chidi Namdi, 36, and his wife were walking through Fermo, a town in northern Italy when they became targets of verbal abuse. A man is alleged to have called Mr Namdi’s wife a “monkey,” which prompted Mr Namdi to respond to the racial slur. Mr Namdi was badly beaten and left in an irreversible coma and died later that day. A Fermo resident, Amedo Mancini, 38, has been arrested in connection with the murder.

Mr Namdi and his wife arrived in Fermo, Italy in September last year after surviving an attack by the Islamist Extremist group Boko Haram in Nigeria in which members of their family were killed. Italian Prime Minister has tweeted support of Emmanuel and condemned the attack. The government is “against, hatred, racism and violence,” he said.

Mr Namdi and his wife were being supported by the Catholic Church in Fermo, a town whose local churches have openly welcomed and supported migrants. In recent months, the churches have been targets of bomb attacks and the divisive issue of immigration has caused much tension in the small town. A local priest has spoken out about Mr Ramdi’s death, saying that though the issues of xenophobia and racism are extensive, the community would continue to promote and support immigrants arriving in Fermo. – Compiled from web sources by Samantha Besgrove and Ariana Norton